Progress in resolving Savannah River Site high-level waste tank safety issues

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), near Aiken, South Carolina, approximately 35 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste are stored in 51 underground, carbon steel waste tanks. These tanks and associated facilities are distributed between the F and H areas, two processing areas at SRS, and are called the F- and H-area high-level waste tank farms. Within the last few years, issues have been raised about the safety of high-level waste tank farms throughout the DOE complex, including those at SRS. Plans for resolution of these issues were reported at the Waste Management 192 conference. This paper addresses progress made at SRS since 1992. Most of the efforts for resolving the six safety issues identified at SRS have concentrated on (1) preparing the tanks for waste removal and (2) completing construction, testing, and starting up three key facilities. These facilities will transform the waste into forms suitable for final disposal, specifically borosilicate glass and saltstone (grout). Removing the waste from the tanks and processing it is needed to resolve three of the safety issues. Two facilities -- In-Tank Precipitation and the Defense Waste Processing Facility -- are undergoing non-radioactive simulant testing (''cold runs'') at this time. The third facility -- Sludge Processing -- began testing with actual waste in October 1993. In Tank Precipitation is scheduled to be operating by the end of 1994